Food goodness

Best way to use our leftover smoked turkey from Thanksgiving. Adapted from this recipe .  Sauté 2 cloves garlic and 1 chopped onion in olive oil until translucent.  Add 1t each of poultry seasoning or thyme, garlic powder, and onion powder, plus some salt & pepper. Add a few rough-chopped carrots and celery stalks. Cook for a couple minutes. Cut the meat off of 2 smoked turkey legs — making sure to avoid the gross parts — and add it to the pot. Cook 3-5 minutes. Stir in one can of white northern beans, drained & rinsed.  Add 4-5c of chicken broth and bring to boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Cover with lid and simmer 45 minutes or longer (in slow cooker on high, or in regular stovetop pot).  Serve with cooked rice or pasta.

 Could have sworn I posted this before, but meh! Place 1 lb of dried black beans —  no need to soak  — into a slow cooker. Add: 1 onion, halved or quartered 2 bay leaves 1t salt 8c water Generous splash of olive oil Cook on high for 6-8 hours. Store in their cooking liquid if possible.  To do this in the IP, reduce to 6c water and pressure-cook on high for 30 minutes. 

How do I make black beans from dried in the Instant Pot? This is how. Saute a large chopped onion and several cloves of garlic in a few T of olive oil. Add some spices -- oregano, cumin. Turn the IP off. Add 2.5 lb dried beans and 7 c water, and stir. Cook on high for an hour. Let the beans sit for at least 15-20 minutes -- natural release, not quick. When you take off the lid, add about 1/4 c red wine vinegar, plus salt to taste. If you want... - Just beans: Fish them out with a slotted spoon and add just a little liquid. - Black bean soup: Remove about half the beans and blend the rest in the IP with an immersion blender. - S's refried beans : Fish them out with a slotted spoon but remember to save some of the cooking liquid. - H's gallo pinto : Make sure you save about 1 c of the liquid.

These are Shannon's refried beans, they're the best refried beans in the world, they're the only ones you'll ever need, and that is all I have to say about the matter. They're so good that I'm reviving this food blog, because once her directions disappear too far back into our text chain, I might not be able to find them again and that would be a tragedy. #pandemicblogrevival 1. Rinse and pick over some amount of dried pinto beans. Put them in the Instant Pot with a quartered onion and several whole garlic cloves. Fill water several inches above the beans. 2. Cook on manual in the IP for 30 mins. Natural release until all the pressure is gone. 3. Drain almost all the cooking liquid, but reserve a cup or so in case you need to add it back in later. Add some salt. Blend with immersion blender. 4. In a skillet, heat a few generous tablespoons of some kind of fat until hot. Pour in the beans. Fry for a while, adding more water if it looks too dry. ...

I've been refining this for a while now to make it easier and easier, and I think I've finally gotten there... loosely based on this recipe . 1 pound lean ground turkey or chicken sausage, or a blend of the two green/red/yellow bell peppers, finely chopped 1 onion, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes, undrained, plus a chopped fresh tomato or two if you have some to use up some beans, equaling about two cans -- black, kidney, white, pinto, whatever  2 c reduced-sodium chicken broth a bag of frozen corn 1 tablespoon chili powder and/or a couple adobo chiles with some sauce pepper, cumin, garlic powder In a large nonstick skillet, cook the turkey, green pepper and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add all spices. Transfer to a 4-qt. slow cooker. Stir in everything else. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until heated through. Serve with sour cream, cheese, cilantro, ...

This was another "Clean Eating" recipe that I tried a few weeks ago and really liked.  It wasn't as good after a day or two when all the dressing was absorbed and it kind of lost some of the lemony zing.  It would be better eaten the day it's made, I think.  So, this would be a good dish to take to a pot luck where everything is going to be eaten that day.   Or, just make more dressing and drizzle some more on the next day to revive it.  It was a good lunch, though, and I will make it again.   Oh, and I used the pre-cooked French Lentils (the black ones) from TJ's instead of cooking green lentils, because I always overcook my lentils and end up with mush. Ingredients 2 cups dry green lentils, 1 can of chickpeas , rinsed, drained 1 bunch of radishes, chopped or sliced ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped (optional, thyme leaves loosely packed, discard stems) 1 bay leaf Garlic  2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt...

This is possible! And easy and good! If you're just doing straight beans, no recipe: Preheat the oven to 325.  Put the beans in a large, ovenproof pot. Cover with water and heat on the stove until the water is hot. Take the pot and pop it in the oven for an hour. After an hour, add a little salt and stir. Back into the oven for 20-30 minutes. And the first recipe in this LA Times story has good suggestions for seasoning and other recipes.

Adapted from ATK's Slow Cooker Revolution and a recipe I swiped from I's. 1 container low-sodium chx broth 1 can hominy, drained and rinsed or 2 C fire roasted frozen corn (no need to thaw) 2 T veg oil 2 onions, small dice 3 large bell peppers, medium dice 4 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded and minced OR 2 chiles in adobo, minced 6 garlic cloves, minced 4 t ground cumin 2 t ground coriander 1 t smoked paprika 1/2 t cayenne 3 15 oz cans cannellini or Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed 3 lbs bone-in chx thighs, skin removed and trimmed (I used 2 large breasts and 6 drumsticks because that's what was in my freezer) S&P potato flakes for thickening soup, optional In a microwave safe bowl add oil, onions, spices and jalapenos/chiles in adobo and microwave on high for 4 min then stir.  Microwave another 3 min and add to slow cooker along with broth, bell peppers and beans.  Season chx with S&P and nestle into slow cooker.  Cover and cook until c...

An answer to the age-old question: Yes, you can use salsa instead of enchilada sauce. Both of them have basically the same ingredients, but enchilada sauce is a little more processed and/or labor-intensive to make yourself. Most of the ingredients in these enchiladas are things you might just have lying around, so salsa seems to go with that. And the filling is healthy and protein-tastic, but it gives that creamy yum you want with Mexican food. Loosely based on these vegetarian enchiladas . 2 T olive oil 1 onion, diced 2 cloves of garlic, chopped 2 jalepenos, de-seeded and chopped dash of red pepper flakes 1 T cumin a big handful of cilantro, washed and chopped 1-10oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out 1 container (about 6 or 8?) large mushrooms, sliced 1 cup whipped lowfat cottage cheese (if you have regular cottage cheese, drain it first)  1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 8 corn tortillas 1 jar s...

My friend Cindy made this for a vegetarian potluck dinner. We all went nuts for it. It's basically a very thick, nicely spiced tomato-based lentil stew that makes a delicious sandwich filling. I made it tonight and it was easy and tasty. 1c uncooked lentils  4c of water  1 tbs extra virgin olive oil  1 medium onion, diced  1 green pepper, diced  2 carrots, diced  2 gloves garlic  1 tbs chili powder  (Cindy: "I used an Indian spice called Sambar instead of chili powder - it's a mixture of spices that includes chili powder. You can get it at the Pakistani store on Greenmount and 33rd -- or I can send you all home with some the next time I see you." Heather used madras curry. )  1.5 tsp oregano  1 tsp salt  8 oz tomato sauce  1/4 c tomato paste  3 tbs maple syrup  2 tbs yellow mustard  4-6 kaiser rolls (or whatever rolls you have)  1. Put lentils and water in a pot. Cover and...

I'm a sucker for anything called "the magic _______." From Everybody Likes Sandwiches , with fairly substantial modifications. 3 cobs of corn, uncooked, kernels sliced off with a sharp knife 1/2 red onion, diced 1 small green pepper, diced 1 large cucumber, seeded and diced handful each of fresh cilantro and basil [she suggested parsley, thyme and basil] 1 can of black beans, drained & rinsed 1/4 c olive oil juice of 2 juicy limes (should equal approx. 1/3 c) 2 heaping tsp gochu jang [her version had paprika, old bay and s&p] Toss everything together except the olive oil, lime juice and gochu jang or other spicy/sweet sauce. In a small jar, combine those three ingredients, shake, pour over the salad. Continue to ignore your stove or any other heat source for the rest of the night.

a.k.a. It's Time to Clean Out the Fridge, Freezer and Pantry. I know I haven't been posting in a while mostly due to some craziness in the work schedule and other things but I have been cooking....just not post-worthy dishes. Or dishes that involve a recipe. Like 2 days ago when we had corn on the cob and yummy slabs of toast smeared with good quality chevre and topped with slices of heirloom tomatoes sprinkled with olive oil, S&P. See, no recipe but the ultimate summer meal in my mind. Anyway, the big news around here is that the Tall Man and I just bought a house and we close in early August. Now is the time to start cleaning out the food stores so I don't have to move it all (all of 1.5 miles away, but still). This fit the bill nicely. 1 medium japanese eggplant 1 medium zucchini 1 medium yellow squash 1 medium red onion 1 large bell pepper (I used red) 2 handfuls of raisins, optional 1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained 1 C or so of israeli couscous, cooked ac...

Like rhubarb crumble-type desserts and enchilada variations, I'm of the mind that we can't get enough daal recipes on this site of ours. I hope I'm not alone. This one is nicely flavorful and LOOK!, Heidi uses the zest AND the juice of the lemon. I like when she keeps it real like that. Lemon in everything, a signature Heidi suggestion, sounds really good to me in the summer. >> Spinach can be particularly muddy this time of year it seems. I fill the large bowl from my salad spinner with cold water, place the spinach in the basket the place it into the bowl of water. Swish the leaves around a bit to loosen any dirt. Drain and repeat. This usually does the trick. I use the same approach with kale and leeks as well. As far as peppers go, I used serrano chile peppers here, and used a pure red chile powder made from a mildly spicy red pepper, not cayenne in this case, I suspect that would be a bit on the too spicy side...but if that is all you have, adjust to what taste...

Heidi101 recipe #2 of the week. She is 2 for 2. We loved the panzanella and now we're loving this carrot and bean salad atop steamed tilapia. I'm developing a regular habit of omitting the last ingredient in most recipes due to any number of quaint factors that diminish my mental capacity. That is, I just this minute was reminded that there should have been an almondy crunch to complete the dish. Didn't miss it but I'm sure it'd be lovely. >>>>> I like to buy young carrots at the farmers' market - slice them slightly thicker than a banana chip for this salad. 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon fine grain salt 1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots more olive oil (or ghee) for cooking 2 cups sliced carrots, cut 1/4-inch thick on deep bias 3 cups cooked white beans scant 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill 2 tablespoons brown sugar (or honey) 1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted Combine the ...

This is adapted from A Veggie Venture , based on what I had in the house. I'll be eating it for lunch this week, but I anticipate it also being good for potlucks and bbqs this summer. I also anticipate adding other things to the salad -- avocado, corn, etc. Salad 16 ounces frozen black-eyed peas, cooked according to package directions 8 ounces frozen green peas, thawed 4 green onions, chopped 1 yellow pepper, diced 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (I bought some fancy pants "gourmet" package of heirloom cherry tomatoes) VINAIGRETTE 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/3 cup white wine vinegar 2 teaspoons minced garlic (or some granulated garlic, which is what I used) 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper Mix the salad ingredients. Mix the vinaigrette ingredients. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate.

Slightly adapted from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times . This would make a great pot luck dish. Would also be good served with Alissa's recipe for Caribbean Chicken. 1.5 C shelled edamame, defrosted if frozen 2 C thinly sliced red cabbage 1 orange/red bell pepper, thinly sliced 1 C finely diced pineapple [or use frozen pineapple tidbits from TJ's] 1/4 C golden raisins/sultanas 1 large handful shredded carrots 1/4 C chopped salted cashews 1/4 C chopped fresh mint 2 T fresh lime juice plus the zest of one lime 2 T honey 1/2 t sriracha splash or two of soy sauce Toss veg and fruit in a large bowl. Whisk together mint, honey, lime juice, sriracha and soy sauce and pour over salad. Toss well to combine. Garnish with cashews and serve. Tastes best when flavors are allowed to marinate together a bit but also tasty when it's just made.

Adapted from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times (recipe not yet available online). I medium onion, diced [I used a red onion] 1 small red pepper, diced 1 small green pepper, diced [didn't have so I used a yellow one] 4 cloves garlic, minced 6 C cooked black beans, about 1 lb. dried [I used a mix of pinto and great northern] 3 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced [don't peel!] 2 T red wine vinegar 1 T ground cumin 1 large bay leaf 1 T oregano [I used dried] 1 T salt or to taste [if using canned beans, use less salt] pinch or two of cayenne 1.5 T canola oil 6 C water or low-sodium chx broth I made mine from scratch instead of using canned beans because I had the time. If you are short on time, just drain and rinse about 3 cans of black beans [or other type of bean if you prefer]. Start by making the sofrito: coarsely chop onions, peppers and garlic and throw into your food processor; process until finely minced. If you don't want to dirty your food processor, then chop b...

From: Serious Eats 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 medium yellow onion, diced 1 orange pepper, diced 1 red pepper, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon cumin 2 teaspoons chili powder One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes Three 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained (I used cannellini and garbanzos) 1 small chipotle chile pepper in adobo sauce, minced ¼ cup chopped cilantro stems Kosher salt 1 bottle dark beer 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes ¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves 1/2 lime (optional) sour cream (optional) Heat oil in large Dutch oven or heavy-lidded saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion and peppers until soft and beginning to caramelize, 5-8 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and chili powder and continue to sauté until very fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans, chipotle, cilantro stems, and 1 teaspoon salt. Turn heat to high, and pour in beer. Simmer for 10 minutes, then add sweet potatoes. Continue to simmer until potatoes are tender, but not fall...

Yummy. I added chunked potatoes to my pot of lentils while they cooked. I also splashed some balsamic during the last 5 minutes on the stove. Served w/ little dollop of plain yogurt. By Freya Bellin on markbittman.com Makes: 4 servings Time: About 30 minutes with cooked lentils Precooked lentils are so useful that it makes total sense to cook extra. Once you do that, it’s a snap to make this one-skillet dish, which you can serve with good bread or rice; or make the variation, an approximation of mujaddarah, a dish popular throughout the Middle East that adds rice to the skillet. Lentil cooking water and porcini soaking water are both invaluable liquids; you can use either (or a little of both) to moisten the stir-fry and save the rest to flavor other dishes. 1⁄2 cup dried porcini mushrooms, optional Boiling water as needed 2 tablespoons olive oil, or more as needed 2 onions, halved and thinly sliced 1 pound mushrooms, preferably an assortment, sliced 3 cups cooked lentils, drained, liq...

From Mark Bittman . This is not really a recipe per se but a great way to throw together some things hanging about in your fridge. I just happened to have the ingredients that Bittman suggests and then some. Here's what I used: 1 bag shelled edamame, defrosted if frozen 3 bundles soba noodles 1 pkg baby spinach 1 small red pepper, julienned or finely diced 1 medium carrot, julienned or finely diced 1 scallion, finely diced For the dressing: fresh ginger, minced miso paste tamari mirin juice of one lime toasted sesame oil wasabi paste or chili paste, if desired toasted sesame seeds or chopped cashews, optional Cook noodles according to pkg directions. Whisk together ingredients for dressing in a large bowl and toss with veg. Add cooked and drained noodles and toss to coat until spinach is slightly wilted and ingredients are evenly distributed. Serve warm or cold.